When You Cried
by KShade
Summary: Set in the Hidden epilogue. Erin and Shaylin are trapped together, awaiting their deaths. As the two of them talk and feelings develop, they discover that the 'rips' in Erin's aura can be healed, every barrier can be broken, and it's never too late. Based off My Immortal by Evanescence. Watershipping (Erin/Shaylin) but starts off Lighteningshipping (Erin/Dallas). May be continued.


_**Watershipping**_**, me, Aspelluncast and Fallen Priestess were all talking about this one, a lot. Fallen named it (or the shipping, any ways) and helped with the plotting, Spell gave me the song, and came got the three of us talking. So, this is set during the online-only Hidden epilogue, at the job fair. Contains character death, or, implied character death. I may write a sequel, I may not. This was the first One-shot Monday event. The two lines of lyrics belong to "My Immortal" by Evanescence. Lightningshipping at the start.**

_I'm so tired of being used…_

Shaylin hadn't gone to help Grandma Redbird. She'd gone to save… well, someone. When a part of a person's aura begins to tear, Shaylin could be damn sure that wasn't a good sign. From her vantage point in the parking lot, she saw the girl with the broken aura_. Did broken mean death_, she wondered. _Hopefully not_. Then, she watched as the boy—or, maybe more like vampyre, pulled her into his arms. Shaylin watched as she kissed him, and his colours filled in the rips and rifts in hers.

It wasn't good. His colours were like a sandstorm, full of chaos and violence. They weren't good to fill in the broken girl's aura. Her aura was blue, with edges of pink, and a frosty white centre that was slowly creeping out into the other colours. The rips were like tiny tears, some that had stretched into gaps and rifts. Now his aura was completely _violating _hers, and Shaylin wasn't going to stand for it. Not that she could do much.

Smushing their faces together as they made out, auras merged more, as a part of their disgusting display of affection. When the girl pulled away, the edges of her rifts had his sandstorm-colour on them. Disgusted, Shaylin crept out from behind the tree she'd been using as a spying post. That's when her clumsiness caught up to her, and she slipped, rolling down the little hill that separated her from the people she was watching.

"Well, well, well," the man smirked, "looks like we had an audience, mermaid," he drawled, meanly, stroking back some of the hair from Shaylin's face. "oh, it's the freak," he spat, "marked red, knows too much about everyone," she saw something darken in his aura as he thought. Finally, he spoke, smiling maliciously as he did so, "there's going to be a demonstration of sorts in the Street Cats tent in a few minutes, and I think that she needs a front row seat."

The girl with the broken aura looked down at Shaylin, looking almost…sad. "I'll take her," she said quietly, "you get your demonstration sorted out," she whispered. _This demonstration… it has to be Neferet,_ she thought, _but, surely Dallas won't let her hurt me. He _does_ love me, after all._

Dallas smiled, rubbing his hands down her figure, pleased with the girl, "I'll have to reward you for your efforts, mermaid," he stroked her face teasingly, moving the white blonde strands of her hair out of her face. Her blue eyes stared into Shaylin's brown ones, pleading. On the way to the tent, there was no speaking. Dallas explained to the nuns that they were wanted at Thanatos' tent, and that 'these two girls' were here to replace them. As he left, he invoked electricity, trapping the two of them there.

Erin looked at Shaylin, "well, you're pretty much screwed. I wonder why he sent me along," Erin mused. She wondered what the young fledgling had done, and what was going to happen to her. She hoped Neferet wasn't going to kill her, she was after all, just a kid.

Shaylin face palmed. She wanted to tell the blonde that she too was screwed. Shaylin knew that Neferet was going to break the circle, and that meant killing both of the water affinities. Erin was no safer than she was.

"Erin, focus. They're trying to break the circle. Neferet needs a sacrifice. She'll probably choose me, because of my True Sight," Shaylin left out what she'd seen in Neferet's aura when they were at the Mayo. Neferet would definitely want her dead for seeing that, "But breaking the circle means neither of us are getting out of here," she finished, not being able to say it bluntly. _They were going to die!_

"Ever?" Erin asked, her blue eyes filling with fear. She wanted the brunette to tell her that she was going to be okay, so she could believe it. _Am I? _she wondered, _will Neferet decide to sacrifice me?_ She looked at the barrier and saw Dallas, just beyond it.

"Yeah, they're in there," he said to another fledgling, "but we're out here," he pulled her to him, crushing her lips with his own. Dallas pulled away, seeing Erin. He waved to her, smirking, "bye, mermaid," he mouthed, laughing cruelly.

That's when it became real to her. She was going to die, and Dallas didn't seem to care. Dallas never cared. Shaylin watched as Erin's aura ripped further, deeper. This was going to break her. Bubbles formed in the blue hues, as though the water was boiling, seething with rage.

"I'm going to fucking die and he doesn't care," Erin cussed, still not looking at Shaylin, not being able to take the other girl into account. Then, she would have to feel sorry, and that _hurt_. She preferred to hate, it didn't hurt. "Nyx!" she cried, "Nyx, where the hell are you!?" she bellowed.

"Erin, Nyx doesn't mess with free will," Shaylin said quietly, worrying about the disintegration in both the aura and the mental state of the other girl. Erin stood up, calling to the sky. Shaylin sighed, letting a few tears escape her eyes. She was trying so hard to stay strong, but now she was thinking about all the things she'd never do. She would never _see_ her parents, nor kiss a guy. She would never make the change, nor see the world, nor make love, nor- _really, Shaylin? _That's _a priority. You've been hanging out with Erik too long. _And she'd never get to see Erik become the better person he was headed to becoming.

Erin ignored Shaylin and continued, "Oh, that's great, leave me here. Gift the fucking both of us and then leave us to die. Awesome! What a great goddess!" she crowed, looking up to the sky, expectantly. _Some Goddess Nyx can be_, she remarked mentally.

Then, it hit her. Nyx definitely wasn't going to help her now. She would have to make amends now. "Nyx, please, I will do anything. I'll go make friends with Shaunee and the circle and be their water again, I'll even forgive Dallas. Please let me live!" she begged. Then, she noticed the still-crying Shaylin.

Realizing that the fifteen year old was just as doomed, she began to tear up. _If I'd been smarter and not fallen for Dallas, we'd both be elsewhere right now, _she thought. _This is all my fault, and now a child is going to die, _she thought sadly.

Shaylin was wrenched from her morbid thoughts by Erin, who had now begun to apologise profusely to her. Shaylin noted that her colours seemed darker, even stormy. Shaylin sighed, letting the tears trickle down her pale cheeks, "Erin, it's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped Neferet. If anything, it's me. I saw something, last time. The circle had confronted her. I was trapped in the elevator, and Zoey called this mirror. Neferet's aura… well, it was spinning, and tearing, and bleeding. She was in immense pain. I don't think she appreciates me knowing about her weakness," Shaylin shivered, thinking about the pain watching that had even caused her. It still gave her a headache to think about it.

Erin sighed, "I should have been there instead. Then you wouldn't have been at risk. But stupid-ass me had to go trust Dallas," she argued, "you didn't even have to be there," she began to try to stifle the small, hiccup like sobs that ripped from her chest. _Well done, Erin. No wonder mommy gave up on you, you're the reason Shaylin's going to die,_ she thought bitterly. _She's probably not even fifteen yet!_

"How old are you, Shaylin?" Erin asked, hoping the other girl was older than she'd guessed. She didn't want to be the death of a kid. Actually, she didn't want to be the death of anyone, but it would be better on her conscience if Shaylin was older than she was guessing.

"Fifteen," Shaylin responded, "but I'll turn sixteen in three weeks," she didn't know why it mattered to the older girl as Erin let out a loud groan and slumped against the canvas wall. Her aura tore a little more, slitting on the edges. Shaylin watched it in horror and in awe. She'd never seen an aura do that until Erin's.

Erin looked up at the other girl, "I'm almost eighteen," she said quietly, "I can't believe this. You haven't even turned sixteen yet. How could Neferet do this?" sighing, she looked at Shaylin, "if we get out of this, you should know that Erik really likes you," Erin told her, wallowing a little in the fact that people liked—possibly could love Shaylin. Who did she have? Not that she deserved any better.

Shaylin shrugged, "He's my friend and all, but he's a teacher. And not to mention an egotist," she said simply, "but it's great having him as a friend," she added. Shaylin also wanted to add that she might happen to be more interested in the person's colour than their gender, but that might make their last moments really awkward. She didn't want Erin to worry about the little girl hitting on her in her last moments.

Erin laughed a little, "you're a smart one, Shay," she nicknamed the younger girl, thinking the term of affection might lessen the awkward vibes, it had been twenty or so minutes, and there was no death happening. She decided this was a false alarm. Something had gone wrong and they were going to survive after all, "Zoey, actually tried that though. He was a teacher, poetry teacher, actually. No less than four years older than her. I mean, he was kinda hot, but in a 'someday, I'll be fifty, and you'll be fifty five and it won't be weird' way. Definitely not in a 'here's a classroom, let's fuck' way," Erin giggled a little. "Zoey would _kill _me for saying that!"

Shaylin wondered how Erin was laughing in this situation. They were going to die, what the hell? "I don't think I could do that," she replied, "not where people could _see. _And not until I turn—if I make it to be you know, older," she explained, "although, granted, I am a year and a half younger than her, so I might be missing something," Shaylin added, not wanting to pass judgement.

Erin sighed, pretending this was a normal conversation, stifling her hyperventilating, the death part would've happened by now if it was happening. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?" she asked, deciding that she wanted to get to know the girl a little better. By now, it wasn't even real to her; there were no signs of danger. It just seemed ridiculous.

Shaylin raised an eyebrow at Erin, "Erin, we need to get out of here, focus, please," she begged, "and no, I haven't," she added as an afterthought. Not that she would ever have the chance to experience any of that now.

Erin sighed, "look, I'm guessing he's testing me. I don't think they're actually going to kill either of us. Dallas doesn't have the guts; Neferet isn't here," she smiled delusionally. Or, Shaylin thought she was delusional. It was odd that the formerly hysterical girl had suddenly gone nonchalant. Shaylin wondered how deep in denial she was.

Then, Shaylin spotted the spiders. She screamed, knowing that they were Neferet. "Erin! Erin, that's her, she's coming!" Shaylin pointed at the spiders frantically, pressing herself to the canvas wall of the tent furthest from the spiders. She had to stay away, Neferet wanted her dead. Or, Neferet was sure to, once she saw the aura that was burned in Shaylin's brain.

Erin rolled her eyes, "Shaylin, these are spiders. Really icky spiders, but they're not Neferet or anything," she swatted one, and it bit her. She crushed it, but it sprung right back up into a spider again. Erin let out a keening noise, partially out of fear, partially out of pain, and stumbled to Shaylin. "Shaylin, what's my aura look like?" she asked, this becoming important now that she knew she was as good as dead.

Shaylin sighed, debating between kindness and honesty. Finally, she settled on honesty, "Erin, your aura is breaking, I mean, you know when moth wings start tearing and get all holey and whatnot? That's what it looks like. And, on the edges, there are bits of Dallas' colours from when you were making out with him. It's like they sort of got stuck in the holes. The rest of your colours are sort of water-like, all tranquil and blue, except now there's this weird orangey stuff staining it, like denial, almost, maybe a bit of fear. And the centre looks like ice, but its slowly thawing," she explained, hoping that wasn't rudely honest.

Erin moaned, turning to face Dallas, who had appeared before her eyes, "You did this! I'm dying with your colours on me!" she slapped him, but her hand kept going through his face. It was so messed up, why did he suddenly get to be untangible?

Shaylin watched as Erin began to scream at the air, and then started flailing her hand back and forth, trying to hit something. Shaylin put her hands on the poisoned girl's shoulders, trying to calm her down. The 'water' in Erin's aura is was polluted with all sorts of colours, but the odd thing was that those colours looked markedly like Neferet's aura, like Darkness. "Water, come to me," Shaylin cried, channeling the energy into Erin.

Erin sighed as the energy entered her, battling the toxins in her veins. It felt refreshing. That didn't change the fact that she still had Dallas-germs on her aura. She wondered idly if kissing someone else would get it off. Not that she could get out and find a nice, normal guy to make out with. Did she want more of that? It was the same thing, day in, day out. All she ever did was this same thing, day in, day out. Go find the nearest guy, hit on him, make out, repeat. She wanted something different, something better.

"Shay?" she threw around Shaylin's new nickname, "do I still have bits of Dallas-colour in my aura?" she asked hesitantly. _Maybe Shaylin can get it off me, _she thought abruptly, _I mean, the true-sight fledgling would be a change, right? For one thing, she actually understands people, it's necessary with her gift and all. And I doubt she's looking for a fling, or she would've been on Erik like there was no tomorrow._

Shaylin looked at her, seeing less fish-eye polluting her, thanks to water, but plenty of Dallas-contaminant. She wondered for a moment if Erin's colours could be fixed—not tainted—with bits of another person's. Maybe someone with similar colours, like another person with Water-like colours could patch those holes. Someone like—_shut up, mind. You're a little over a year younger; she's straight and just no. _"You do," she said quietly.

Erin looked at Shaylin for a moment, her blue eyes boring into Shaylin's brown ones. _What the hell, if I'm going to die, I may as well say what's on my mind, _she thought determinedly. "Can you get it off me?" she asked, watching warily as the spiders crept in, growing exponentially in numbers. She didn't have time to find a clever little alternative and she wasn't going to die with Dallas-taint on her.

Shaylin's heart dropped, she didn't know what to say, "w-what?" she asked, unable to believe her ears. Was Erin implying what she thought she was implying? Goddess, she hoped so, if only so she could forget the fact that she was facing her imminent doom. She looked closer at Erin's aura, and saw that it was actually really nice. Kind of worn and holey, but the watery colours were nice. They spoke of someone not sure who to be, someone who wanted only to find their place.

Erin blushed a little, but continued regardless, "I don't want to die tainted, do you think you could undo it?" she asked, "yeah, almost-sixteen is a little young to be kissing another woman, right? But you can imagine I'm someone else," Erin suggested. Now she was really blushing, but she didn't back down. She claimed the younger girl's lips in hers, weaving her hands into Shaylin's chocolate-coloured tresses.

Shaylin gasped a little, but soon found herself returning Erin's kiss. This might not have been the ideal circumstances, but there was a certain poetic aspect to it, her first kiss being her last. She let out a little sigh as Erin deepened the kiss, letting exploring Shaylin's mouth with her tongue. Shaylin tasted the strawberry lipgloss on Erin's lips as Erin's hands travelled down her body. Shaylin had never felt this way before.

Erin pulled away, eyes looking sad, "that was selfish," she remarked, "I'm so sorry," she added, not meeting Shaylin's eyes. She wondered who Shaylin had envisioned in her place. Not that it mattered now, this close to the end.

Shaylin looked up at the saddened other girl, and noticed most of the little rifts had filled with a crystalline colour, one that shone in a rainbow of colours. She knew her aura was a blue vortex, so it confused her, for a moment, as to where the colours had come from. Then, it hit her, they were Erin's, they were what Erin's were meant to look like. Erin was healing. In response to her lamenting, Shaylin cupped her face, "I'm not," she whispered, kissing Erin again, this time, slowly, getting to know every nook and cranny of the girl's mouth.

Erin smiled a little beneath Shaylin's lips as Shaylin pulled them back together. She felt…better, like a better Erin. Like a different Erin from the one that had chosen Dallas and forsaken the circle. Erin finally felt appreciated, something she hadn't felt since she was young. If she was going to die, she knew this was a good way to go.

Neferet formed from the spiders to see her two victims embracing each other. Smirking at the young lovers, she summoned Darkness, preparing to smite the two of them in one fell swoop. She smirked at the chaos she'd cause, breaking the circle again.

Erin felt pain hit her, a searing pain that meant the Darkness was upon them, as Shaylin shuddered and tears slid down her cheeks. Erin opened her eyes, staring into Shaylin's, and wiping away her tears. She laced her fingers through Shaylin's, and when the other girl screamed in agony, she whispered, "thank you," and pushed Shaylin away, throwing her power at protecting her through the barrier of electricity.

She met Neferet's eyes and whispered, "you've lost." Erin knew she'd die, but she wasn't afraid, not now. It was all about dying _well_. It was better to die back on Nyx's path than cower in the shadows and live. Now that made sense to her.

Neferet smirked, "not quite," she responded, and then a great silence engulfed Erin, a void.

Shaylin lay on the ground, slightly burned and wounded, but alright otherwise. She thanked Nyx for her savoir, and vowed to never forget her, never forget this day. She would stop Neferet at all costs and avenge Erin. That was certain.

_But you still have all of me…_

**Thanks for reading, and remember to go to the one-shot Mondays forum thread, and suggest a one-shot idea for next Monday. You can also submit on instagram! Find shaylin_ruede_ for pictures and more, mostly hon related. KShade out!**


End file.
